It looks as if the Lawrence city budget is about to hit the wall. The city’s director of finance told city commissioners last week that if they continue to spend at their current rate without raising additional revenue, the city’s reserve fund will shrink from about $14 million to about $2 million by 2008 and “will largely be gone” in three or four years. The dwindling reserves simply are a result of the city spending more than it takes in.

The current $14 million reserve is equal to about 30 percent of the city’s entire general fund budget. That’s pretty high, and commissioners say they’d be comfortable with a reserve that’s about 15 percent of the general fund. That seems reasonable, but to keep the reserves at even 15 percent will require commissioners to tighten their spending belts or raise additional taxes or fees.

The state of the city’s reserve fund is another reminder that the city simply doesn’t have the financial resources to do everything for everyone in Lawrence. Especially in the face of growing infrastructure needs such as street and sewer improvements, commissioners must focus on the city’s primary responsibility to provide basic services on which Lawrence residents depend.